The Man Upstairs
by Rory Maria
Summary: MirSan AU. Sango moves from Japan to California, and everything is going well until an annoying man moves into the apartment above her. Just a fluffy little mini series about the interactions between the two!
1. Chapter 1 - First Meeting

Sango sighed as she sat down on her new sofa for the first time. She had to admit, she'd been pretty nervous about moving to California all by herself, but so far she'd done a good job of supporting herself. Right away she landed a job as a florist, which was just fine with Sango. The flowers reminded her of the open fields of her home town, and it paid enough to support her daily necessities and monthly rent. She also started teaching yoga and self defense classes on the weekends once she realized going to school part time and trying to live on her own was more expensive than she would have liked.

Nevertheless, Sango had found herself a nice place to live. It was nowhere near as comfortable as the home she'd grown up in, but a two bedroom apartment in a not-so-dangerous part of California was still good to her. And the rent was cheap enough for her to save up money for nice new furniture in just three months. Running her hands along the smooth leather of her new sofa, Sango smiled and gave her legs an excited shake. Slowly, she would transform this apartment into a nice looking home.

Along with the affordable rent, Sango relished in the fact that she had actual nice neighbors. Across the hall from her lived a thirty year old Italian immigrant who claimed he would someday become a famous hollywood director. He mostly kept to himself, writing screenplays all day. The only times he and Sango ever interacted were when he was giving her jars of homemade tomato sauce, after finding that she used store bought sauce that was "an insult to his culture". Diagonal from him and to Sango's left lived a small family of three, who were very welcoming and helpful to Sango when she first arrived in the states. And finally, the apartment to her right was occupied by an old white widower. He'd apparently fought in the Korean war and had met his wife while in Korea. He always told Sango she reminded him of his deceased wife, and even though she would always remind him that she was Japanese, not Korean, he would just wave his hand and say, "I know, I know". Sango guessed to Americans they were all the same.

Loud music and thumping from above made Sango snap out of her thoughts, and her smile disappeared instantly. She sighed, clenching her jaw in annoyance. Well, almost all of her neighbors were nice. When she first moved in three months ago, a nice, elderly Hispanic woman named Marisol had lived above her. She was nice, and Sango helped her whenever she could. Marisol had never married, so her only living relatives were her nieces and nephews that would visit with their kids every week. They were always welcoming, and had made sure to thank Sango for her help any time they saw her.

About a month ago Marisol passed away, and Sango had wondered along with the rest of her neighbors what kind of person would move in to her apartment. Sango hadn't thought it that big of a deal, until the person actually moved in. She didn't know who they were, but every night since they moved in they had blasted what sounded like old punk rock music. The loudness and thumping was driving Sango insane, and finally she put her foot down. Sango had had enough.

Taking the stairs by two, Sango rushed up to the next floor. She could tell her cheeks were flushed with anger and she was glad. Never one to be shy of necessary confrontation, Sango wanted to show this person just how pissed off they had made her. She banged on the door three times, maybe too aggressively, but her excuse was that she wanted to be heard over the music. When the door opened, she faltered. What she saw was definitely not what she expected.

The music had cut off suddenly and Sango heard a man's voice say "Shit!". The door swung open to reveal a man around Sango's age, which she determined to be Japanese based on the familiar features of his face. Her eyes didn't stay on his face too long though, considering he was very much shirtless, and the only thing covering his lower section was a white bed sheet that he had wrapped around his waist. From it's wrinkled, lopsided appearance, he'd done so in a hurry, too. If Sango's cheeks had been flushed in anger before, they were definitely darkening now, but for a different reason.

 _So...the music...and the thumping…?_ Oh god. Sango wanted to cover her face in embarrassment. She'd always assumed the person above was just dancing around or throwing a small party. She never assume _this_!

The man's eyes widened once he took in Sango's appearance, which annoyed her all over again, and reminded her of why she was there. He smiled at her and leaned against his half closed door. "My, how the gods must be smiling down on me today. What could I ever have done to be blessed with such a beautiful woman at my door?"

Sango's upper lip curled up in disgust almost instantly, and the man had the nerve to give a little laugh in response. Making her face blank, Sango kept her tone neutral while she spoke. "Listen," she started, crossing her arms over her chest, "I live below you, and I would appreciate some peace and quiet once in awhile, alright?"

"Completely understandable," the man responded, suddenly very serious. He leaned forward to take her hand in both of his and said, "Please accept my sincerest apologies, Miss…?" He let his words trail off in question, and Sango answered while jerking her hand out of his.

"My name is Sango, if you must know." _God, what a pervert_ , she thought, fighting the urge to wipe her hand off on her jeans. Just then, a bottle blonde appeared behind the man. She looked to be completely naked, but was thankfully shielded from Sango's view by the man's body. Wrapping her arms sensually around the man from behind, the blonde smiled at Sango. It gave her the creeps.

"Who's this, Miroku? Is she coming to play with us? She's really pretty."

 _What?!_ Sango couldn't help but think, finding it extremely hard to keep her face blank. Without her permission, her eyes narrowed in repugnance and the man was obviously trying to fight off a smile at her discomfort. He turned his head away from Sango to address the woman behind him. "Ah, no. This is Sango, she lives below me. It seems we've been a bit too loud, my dear." Turning back to Sango, the man began to retreat back into his apartment, slowly closing the door as well. "Sorry to bother you, Sango. I promise we'll keep it down from now on."

And with that, the door was shut and Sango was left standing alone in the hallway. Before she made her way down the steps, the music was back on, but this time a lot lower. She couldn't hear it from her apartment, which was an improvement. Every now and then Sango would hear a thud from her ceiling and cringe. _What a pervert_ , she thought to herself, finishing off a cup of tea before heading out. She couldn't stand to be there knowing what was going on above her. She only hoped they would be finished by the time she returned.


	2. Chapter 2 - An Admirer

A few weeks had passed with little bother from Sango's upstairs neighbor. Still, whenever the woman heard a thump from above she would cringe or shudder. This resulted in Sango putting her earbuds in and keeping her music on blast as she lounged around her home. Thank god it was spring time, which meant weddings were in full swing and businesses like florists were fully booked. Sango was hardly home these days, busy putting together bridal bouquets and flower arrangements for churches and reception halls. Her mornings were early and her evenings late.

Although she was thankful for the distraction, Sango found it hard to stay awake all day between making flower deliveries and going to classes. She was never much of a coffee drinker, but that morning Sango knew she needed some type of pick-me-up before entering the flower shop. Luckily for her, there was a cozy little coffee shop on the end of her street, in the same direction as her work destination. At this time, she couldn't imagine the small shop being too busy. Upon entering through the worn wooden door, Sango found her prediction to be true. The only other customer in the shop was a skinny old Japanese man with a sketch pad. When she passed him to get to the register, Sango glanced at his page and saw that he was drawing a detailed picture of a sword. _Interesting_.

"Hello, welcome to The Coffee Cave. What can I get for you this morning?" Sango heard a man say as she reached the register. He wasn't facing her yet, instead he was wiping down the counter attached to the far wall that held all of the different blenders. From this angle, Sango could see that his black hair was tied into a small ponytail and two small, gold hoops decorated each of his ears. Something about his voice and the broadness of his shoulders seemed too familiar, and yet Sango couldn't quite put her finger on it. Her head was too sleep deprived to think.

"Good morning. Could I just have a cup of black coffee, to go please?" Sango didn't see any reason to drink coffee with sugar or milk in it. She wasn't drinking the coffee for the taste, she was drinking it for the caffeine. No sense in watering it down. She was digging in her black purse for some cash when the barista's smooth voice made her snap to attention.

"Well, Sango, I have to say, I didn't peg you as a black coffee drinker. But then again, I suppose it does match your personality type."

"It's you!" Sango accused, forming a fist around the ten dollar bill in her hand. She instantly recognized the man as her annoying neighbor from upstairs. When she glanced at his name tag, she read the name Miroku. Come to think of it, she thought she remembered that creepy blonde woman calling him by that name. So Sango had been right; by the sound of his name, he was definitely Japanese.

The man behind the counter smiled at her charmingly and leaned forward, resting his elbow on the smooth marble and cupping his chin in his hand. "Did you miss me that much, Sango? I'm pretty hurt that you haven't come to visit me again," Miroku said, a playful glint in his eyes. He was teasing her, the nerve of him! Sango wasn't having this. She frowned and crossed her arms.

"Sorry, honey, I've just been having a busy schedule lately. Speaking of which, I have to be at work in fifteen minutes, could you hurry it up with my coffee, darling?" Sango made a show of exaggerating the pet names. She was trying to show that two could play at this game, but her neighbor simply smirked, seeing right through her.

"Of course," he agreed, right away getting to work on her drink. It didn't take long, and a moment later a coffee cup was pushed across the counter towards her. Sango quickly handed over her ten dollar bill, telling Miroku to keep whatever change was left over. She hadn't been kidding, she really did need to get to work in a matter of minutes, and Sango didn't have the time to wait for him to ring her up.

While literally jogging down the street to Rin's Flower Shop, Sango sipped at her warm coffee. She had to admit, although she wasn't a fan of coffee, this cup made her wish she was. It was a perfect blend and with just a few sips perked her right up. When she arrived at the flower shop - thankfully on time - she went straight to the back and started to work on their new orders. Setting aside her half full cup of coffee, Sango lost herself in arranging flowers forgot about the disregarded drink for most of the morning. It wasn't until their eleven o'clock break that Sango's co-worker brought it to her attention again.

"Hey Sango, where'd you buy your coffee?" Kagome asked. She was a Japanese girl a few years younger than Sango herself. Although Kagome's family had lived in California for a few generations now, the younger girl was still fluent in Japanese and Sango was grateful for that. Even though she'd grown up learning English and Japanese simultaneously, Sango still prefered to speak Japanese whenever she could.

"My coffee?" Sango asked, finding it odd that Kagome would be interested in something as random as that. "Uh, I got it from The Coffee Cave, up the street."

"Oh, I've passed that place a few times. Never went in though. Is it nice? Are you friends with the barista or something?"

Friends with the barista? Okay, now Kagome's questions were really starting to become odd. What would give her that idea? "Sure," Sango answered, shrugging her shoulders at the first question. "It's pretty nice. Really cozy. I'm not really friends with the barista though. Why do you ask?"

Kagome covered her mouth on a giggle and grabbed the foam coffee cup, turning it to show Sango the writing on the side. "Well, whoever he is, he definitely wants to be your friend. Or more, from the sounds of it."

Sango's face turned bright red. Underneath the fast scribble of her name in black sharpie was the line "Are your legs tired, 'cause you've been running through my mind all day" followed with a winky face. "Why, the nerve of that pervert - !" Sango stopped speaking when she caught sight of Kagome's shocked expression.

In her rage, Sango had clenched her fist around the flower crown she'd been idly working on during their break. _Oh no, the flowers are ruined!_ "Oh god, our boss is gonna kill me!" Their boss being a silver haired Japanese man who was close friends with Kagome's family. He'd opened the flower shop and named it after his daughter to surprise her for her tenth birthday. That had surprised Sango; all she'd gotten when she turned ten was a pair of new running sneakers and her first tube of lipgloss. But, she guessed if you had the means, why not splurge a little for your only daughter.

Kagome quickly took the flower crown from Sango's hands and assured the older girl that she hadn't done any major damage to it. Right away she got to work on fixing it, and a few minutes later, the order for that morning's wedding was completed, thanks to the damage control done by Kagome. Sango couldn't stop thanking her co-worker for the rest of the morning. She was sure Mr. Takahashi would have fired her if the order wasn't perfect.

On her way out that afternoon, Sango grabbed her coffee cup and threw it into a trashcan on the sidewalk, not without taking a second glance at the flirtatious message, though. "Ugh," Sango groaned in disgust, disposing of the foam cup. A scowl remained on her face the entire way to her first class of the day.

The next few days remained the same: early mornings, late nights, and the constant need for coffee in the morning. Going to the little shop at the end of her street was becoming a morning ritual for Sango, and adding a pick up line to her coffee cup had apparently become a ritual for her upstairs neighbor. Every day was the same; she would wake up, go to the coffee shop, get to work, and Kagome would have a laugh at the daily line. Sango admitted that they were funny, especially in the morning when she was feeling a little grumpy. Still, some part of it didn't sit well with her. Maybe it was the fact that Miroku was a womanizer.

Begrudgingly, Sango stepped foot into the cozy cafe once again that Friday. The same old man from earlier in the week was back and sitting in the same place. When Sango passed by him this time, he was working on the same sword, except now he was coloring it in. Sango thought the detail of fur around the handle was a little odd, and that the shape of the blade reminded her a lot of a dog fang.

"Ah, good morning, my dear Sango. What is it that you would like today? Black coffee again?"

Grinding her teeth, Sango simply nodded her head. She didn't want to speak to Miroku, or else she would lose track of time again and have to rush to work like she had earlier in the week. Sango definitely did not want to go through that again. When the barista didn't say another word, she found herself surprised. No playful teasing or sly smiles. He simply got to work. A few moments later a coffee cup was pushed in her direction. It was only when Sango went to pay that Miroku spoke.

"There's no need for that. This one is on the house. Have a good day, Sango." He smiled so hard that his eyes closed and Sango felt sick to her stomach when she realized she found the sight cute. _Don't fall for his smile, stupid, he's a pervert!_ she reminded herself. Giving her neighbor a small "Thank you" Sango made a beeline for the door. Without their usual conversation, Sango actually managed to make it to work early that day.

"Hey Sango, same barista?" Kagome asked casually as the two girls stood around, relaxing before they actually had to start working. Sango stopped sipping her coffee to examine the cup. In her attempt to get out of the coffee place quickly, Sango had all but forgotten to ask Miroku about the pickup lines he'd been writing her. By the looks of her cup, he'd left her another one.

 _Did you have lucky charms for breakfast, because you're lookin' magically delicious ;) 3_

Sango's eyes glazed over as she looked blankly at the cup in annoyance. What was he trying to do? Sango knew he wasn't taking this flirting seriously, since she'd seen him bring a different woman up to his apartment every week. If he really wanted her he would have made a fast move, one that would have been rejected, of course. So it seemed to Sango that he knew she was out of his league. What was the purpose of all of this flirting then?

"Seems like you've got yourself an admirer," Kagome giggled, walking out from behind the main counter to start working on the day's order. Sango rolled her eyes at the thought.

"If only you knew," the older girl said sullenly. After that, the morning passed in silence as both girls worked diligently, packing different flowers carefully into their respective boxes.


	3. Chapter 3 - The Florist

"Where is your manager?" Sango asked after Miroku handed over her cup of coffee that morning. Under her name was written "Let's play titanic. You be the iceberg and I'll go down". Of course, the line was followed by a winky face. Although Kagome found them entertaining, Sango was starting to find the pick up lines annoying and borderline creepy. "This is completely unprofessional, and your manager should be notified of your behavior."

The man behind the counter only smiled at her. Sango had the feeling that he was happy with her reaction, like this was what he wanted to happen. "My manager doesn't come in until later," Miroku answered her, putting an elbow on top of one of the coffee boxes to his right and leaning his weight on it. His casual stance annoyed Sango further. Why didn't he ever take her seriously?

"Are you alone here? There has to be some higher up around!"

"I'm afraid not," he told her, a smug smile gracing his face. Sango decided he would be cute if he wasn't such a womanizer, but she pushed that thought away. She huffed and crossed her arms, coffee cup still firmly in her hand. "I'm the only one scheduled for this shift," Miroku confirmed, much to Sango's dismay.

"What time does your manager arrive?" Sango asked him, wondering if it was at all possible for her to stop in later and have a chat with him or her. Her neighbor only shrugged.

"If he shows up today he'll get here around nine. He doesn't stay long though, he's usually out by twelve."

Damn, Sango thought. "I'll be at work at nine," she mumbled to herself, and with her class schedule today, there really was no way of her seeing him. She frowned, almost giving up.

"If you really want me to stop with the pick up lines, how about we make a deal?" Miroku offered, and Sango looked up at him through cautious eyes. Making a deal with a pervert might be more trouble than it's worth.

"What kind of deal?" Sango asked, turning her head to the side slightly as she spoke. She could tell her neighbor was trying his best not to laugh at her reaction. Miroku held up his hands defensively and went on to explain.

"All I ask is for the location of your job. Then I'll stop with the pick up lines."

Location of her job? "You want to know where I work?" Sango questioned, feeling a bit dumbfounded. When she was answered with a soft "Mhm", she began to try to think of any creepy thing he could do with that information. The only thing she could think of was stalk her, but if that was the case, her boss would put an end to it before the police would. Mr. Takahashi was a scary man, for sure. Shrugging, Sango thought there was no harm in doing so. "Alright. I work at Rin's Flower Shop, just down the street."

"Is that so?" her neighbor replied, a smirk growing on his face. After a moment of thinking, Miroku nodded his head. "Alright then, you have my word. No more pick up lines on your coffee cup."

"Or any said out loud!" Sango clarified, lifting her chin just a little, almost daring him to challenge her. He didn't, though, and simply laughed sweetly.

"Or out loud," Miroku agreed, looking at her with soft eyes. His gaze made Sango feel weird, and she was sure a faint blush was coloring her cheeks. "Not that I want to say goodbye, but shouldn't you be on your way to work by now?"

"Oh!" Sango exclaimed, looking at the time. Her shift started in two minutes, there was no way she was getting there in time. Without another word to her annoying neighbor, Sango bolted out the door.

When she arrived to work five minutes late, Kagome was already elbow deep in a pile of flowers that needed to be arranged into bouquets, corsages, and anything else. Sango squinted her eyes while chugging back the majority of her coffee. It was hot and bitter and burned her throat on the way down, but she needed to dispose of it and get to work. She was already late as it was.

Finally, after spending a few hours putting massive amounts of flowers together, the two girls were finally done. They packed all of the individual boxes into their small company van and set out towards the local Catholic church, which they now had the job of decorating before a one o'clock wedding. Once again, the girls got right to work upon arrival and soon the gothic cathedral was transformed into a fairytale looking wonderland. Before they left, Sango got to see the look on the bride's face when she peeked her head out from the back doors and saw all of the flowers. The bride looked completely in awe, her eyes filling with tears. That was always Sango's favorite part of working weddings: making a bride's vision become reality.

When the girls arrived back to the flower shop, Sango noticed a familiar figure walking down the street. "Oh no," she mumbled, quickly unlocking the front door to the shop and pulling Kagome inside with her. The younger girl gave her a confused look as Sango slammed the door shut. She was on the move to lock it when Kagome stopped her.

Putting a hand on Sango's forearm, Kagome gave her a look as if to say "Are you crazy?". "Sango," the girl said, trying to put her words gently as if talking to a baby, "What are you doing? We're _open_ , why are you trying to lock the doors?"

"He's coming!" Sango said, nervously looking out the window. By now, Miroku was almost at the shop. _Oh god_ , Sango thought, rushing to hide in the back room. Kagome whirled around to watch her go.

"What? Who's coming?" she asked, her tone slightly scared. Sango was too worked up to realize she was acting like a total lunatic.

"The barista!" she shouted, finding it impossible to stand in the back room since it was completely filled with empty boxes. Instead, Sango sat down on the front counter and slid herself across before hopping down on the other side. Just as the door opened Sango squatted down, hiding herself from sight.

"The barista?" Kagome mumbled to herself, before becoming distracted by the customer that had just walked in. When she turned around, Kagome was face to face with a tall man with dark blue eyes. His hair was pulled back into a ponytail and he was wearing what looked to be a work uniform. The embroidered logo on his polo said "The Coffee Cave" and Kagome suddenly knew what Sango mean. "Hello! Can I help you?" she asked, putting on the brightest smile she could.

"Ah, yes," the man laughed embarrassedly, and Kagome couldn't help but feel pulled in by his charm. How had Sango managed to resist it? "I'm looking for a friend of mine. Her name is Sango. Is she working right now?"

 _Friend?_ Sango rolled her eyes from her position on the floor behind the counter. She wouldn't call Miroku her friend. He was barely an acquaintance. He was just - her neighbor. Simple and clear as that.

"Sango? Oh yes! She's working today. Um, actually, I'm not really sure where she is right now. But if you - uh - wait maybe?"

Sango could have groaned. Kagome was too innocent for her own good. Of course she wouldn't have thought to lie about Sango working; instead, she'd forced them into an awkward game of "Who can out wait who?". Sango refused to stand up though; her pride was on the line here, she'd be much too embarrassed if Miroku found out she'd been hiding behind the counter like a wimp.

"Wait? Well, I only have a short break but...okay. I'll wait as long as I can, if you don't mind my company." Sango wanted to vomit at how pleasant her neighbor had made his voice sound. Miroku was laying it on thick, and poor Kagome was probably gobbling it all up.

Sango was relieved when Miroku mentioned that his break was short, though. Maybe she _could_ out wait him. At least she was thinking that before Kagome's bright voice assured him that she didn't mind his company "one bit" and directed him to a seat at the counter. _Oh god_ , Sango thought, _please,_ please _don't see me. Don't look down, don't look down…_

"Sango?" Miroku asked, peeking over the counter to see Sango sitting on the floor, back leaning against the hidden shelves on her side of the wooden table top. Slowly, Sango stood, facing her neighbor with flaming cheeks.

"Oh, hey Miroku. When did you get here?" she asked, aiming for casual, but her stiff body language gave her away. She watched as Miroku's face went from slight confusion to complete amusement. He leaned his elbow on the counter and tilted his head, resting his skull against his closed fist. "Sango, were you hiding from me?"

"W-what? Don't be ridiculous! I was doing no such thing. I was simply looking for something on the floor and was too distracted to notice you walk in." Sango mentally slapped herself for coming up with such a lame excuse. Even she didn't believe herself. Miroku's eyes shined with laughter.

"Oh, of course. My apologies for the accusation. May I ask what it was you were looking for?"

"My earring!" Sango blurted out, the first thing that came to her mind. Her cheeks turned a darker shade of red upon realizing what she'd said. Losing an earring and crawling around on the floor to look for it was a believable story indeed. There was just one problem…

"Your ears aren't pierced, Sango." Now Miroku was openly smirking at her, and giving her a look with his eyes as if to say "I've won". Sango quickly let her face fall into a glare and she crossed her arms.

"Why are you even here, Miroku? I'll have you know, my boss is a pretty scary guy. If you're planning on harassing me here he'll have none of it." It seemed Sango's threat fell on deaf ears.

Holding his hands up in defense, Miroku looked at Sango through innocent eyes. "Me, harass you? Sango, I would never dream of it. I'm simply here to buy a flower."

"Buy a flower? As in a singular flower?" Sango's tone was as blank as the face she was giving her companion. She knew he was a playboy and all, but jeez, if he was going to buy one of his many girlfriends something from the shop, the least he could do was make it a full bouquet. Sango was appalled at how cheap he was.

"Yes. Could I have a stem of geraniums please?" Miroku asked as if it were the most common thing to request. Sango narrowed her eyes, but followed through with his demand. He was a customer after all. She walked out from behind the counter to find the pot of geraniums and, after removing a pair of gardening scissors from her uniform apron, cut a stem off. Once returning to the counter, Sango handed the stem with multiple flower heads to her nuisance of a neighbor.

"Will that be all, sir?"

"Oh Sango, please call me by my name. When you call me sir it makes it hard to keep my intentions pure." Miroku laughed when Sango lifted her hand in a threat to hit him. She didn't though, and Miroku stood from the stool he had been sitting on to dig into his back pocket. He pulled out a credit card and handed it over to her. "Yes, this is all I need. Thank you for your service."

"Uh huh," Sango said shortly, swiping his card and handing it back to him. She finished the transaction on the cash register and handed Miroku a receipt. "Thank for shopping at Rin's Flower Shop," Sango said, not making any effort to make it sound cheerful like she usually did. The phrase was something her boss insisted all of his employees say after every customer finished purchasing their orders. Sango found the saying cute, and usually didn't mind saying it. After awhile, it actually came natural to her. It was only the mere fact that this was Miroku that made her dread the words. Somehow Sango felt stupid now, like he would judge her for saying such a corny line.

Miroku did no such thing, though. He only smiled one of his rare, genuine smiles that made Sango's heart skip a beat, and lifted the flower to her. "Oh! I almost forgot. This is for you, my dear Sango. I've got to get back to work now, but hopefully I'll see you later." Miroku took Sango's hand in his, since it seemed she had no intention of grabbing the flower, and placed the stem into her hand himself. After that, he smiled again and left the shop.

Sang looked out of the window to her left and saw Miroku shove his hands into the front pockets of his black skinny jeans while he briskly walked back up the street. She then turned her gaze to the flowers in her hand. He'd come all the way here on his break just to buy a flower and give it to her? What kind of weirdo was he?


	4. Chapter 4 - The Tutor

The weekend came and passed quickly, and soon Sango was back to her early mornings. Although Miroku had stopped with the pickup lines like he had promised, he still added smiley faces and little messages like "Have a great day!" to her coffee cup. She hated to admit it, but every time she read whatever it was she would smile. When she would realize Miroku was watching her reaction, though, she'd quickly shove the cup to her lips to shield her expression.

Sango could tolerate the coffee cup messages, but what she couldn't bring herself to enjoy was the daily visits to the flower shop Miroku had started to do. He would work his charm on Kagome, and manage to get the younger girl to give the two neighbors some privacy, much to Sango's dismay. Every time he would visit, he would have mundane conversations with Sango, usually teasing her about something. When their conversations would end, he would buy a single stem of geraniums and leave it with her before he went back to the coffee shop. Sango's apartment was now fully decorated with the sweet smelling flowers, and though she didn't mind that, she was starting to run out of room for them.

It was nearing dinner time, but all Sango could do was sit at her kitchen table and stare at the vase of flowers in the center of the wooden surface. With it being such a busy week - four weddings and three proms in just five days! - Sango hadn't had time to do any shopping, and her food content was alarmingly low. She could just heat up her last pack of ramen, but then what would she pack for lunch tomorrow? Sango groaned along with her stomach and plopped her head down onto the table top. What was she to do?

Of course, she could order in, but with it being the end of the month, her money was on the low side. She would rather spend the money on actual groceries, but Sango was much too exhausted to go out now. In the midst of this inner conflict, Sango heard a knock on the door and her head snapped up. Who could that be?

Forcing herself to stand, Sango dragged her feet along the hardwood floor and managed to open the door in a reasonable amount of time. "Miroku?" she questioned. He was standing in the hallway with a large paper bag in one arm, and a bottle of wine and two glasses in his other hand. "What are you doing? Are you lost or something?"

"Oh Sango, your humor never fails to tickle me. Aren't you going to invite me in? All of this food isn't light, you know," Miroku nagged at her, raising one of his brows. The mention of food was all Sango needed to move aside and allow her neighbor in.

"So, may I ask why you're coming into my home with food and wine?" she asked, following behind him as he made his way into her kitchen. It seemed that her neighbor had no problem making himself at home in her apartment. Sango didn't know how to feel about that.

With his back turned towards her, Miroku spoke while lining all of the ingredients on her counter top. "Well, isn't it obvious? I'm making us dinner."

"Uh, why?" Not that Sango was in an ideal place to protest a free meal. She just doubted his intentions. What did he want from her? Maybe he really was just being nice though…

Sango watched as Miroku sighed and turned to face her, having emptied his bag of it's contents. His face was serious, and like this, Sango could see why so many women fell for him. He was handsome to say the least, and when he didn't have that amused smirk, Sango could imagine him being an actual gentleman.

"Listen, Sango. I know I made the worst first impression I could ever make when we initially met. I regret that more each day. Not only because I find your beauty has some sort of gravitational pull on me, but because the more I find out about you, the more I realize how incredible you are. I'd love to be your friend, Sango, if you would want that."

At that, Sango's eyes widen in shock. Asking to be her friend was the last thing she'd ever expected Miroku to say, and yet that's what had just came out of his mouth. Sango wanted to hesitate, wanted to take a few moments to herself just to think this over. What if he was tricking her? What if this was his way of getting close enough to hurt her? _Not everyone is a bad person, Sango. Not everyone will try to hurt you,_ her father's voice sounded in her mind.

"Okay, friends. I'd like that," Sango agreed, albeit a bit hesitantly. But the wide, genuine grin Sango received from the man before her completely washed away all of her doubts.

Miroku wouldn't let Sango help in making dinner. He even refused her offer to chop tomatoes while he worked on preparing the meat. So Sango ended up sitting down at her kitchen counter and watching the man work. The room wasn't silent though. In fact, the two laughed and talked so much that Sango feared they'd run out of things to say while eating their meal. Thankfully, that was not the case, for Miroku was full of surprises.

"How did you learn to cook?" Sango asked before taking another bite of her meal. Her plate was covered with some type of pasta drowned in tomato sauce with chunks of chicken generously spread about.

"My parents taught me. They love to cook. My mom actually owns a restaurant downtown, it's pretty popular. Most nights we all made dinner together; my parents, my brother and I." There was a small, fond smile on Miroku's lips as he stared off into the distance. Sango watched him while he spaced out for a moment, entering into his own little world, no doubt thinking back to those memories of his.

Something was bothering her though. Although it wasn't impossible for a Japanese household to master cooking food out of their culture, it also wasn't very common. Sango couldn't keep her question from tumbling out. "Why did your parents teach you to cook American food?"

"This isn't American," Miroku corrected her around a mouth full of food. He quickly swallowed before continuing, as if becoming aware of his lack of manners. "It's Italian."

Sango nodded and shrugged. "Okay. It's not really relevant to what I'm asking, though. Why did you learn to make food that isn't Japanese?"

"Because my parents aren't Japanese," Miroku said casually, as if it were something obvious.

It wasn't obvious though. Based on his looks and name, Sango was sure that he was...well, she'd assumed they were from the same culture. With eyes widened in embarrased shock, Sango quickly tried to amend her mistake. "Oh! I'm so sorry, that was so rude of me to assume - it's just - well, your name. It's Japanese so I -"

"Oh, yeah. I'm Japanese. But my parents aren't. I'm adopted," Miroku explained, probably taking pity on Sango when her face became even more confused. "So is my brother. Our parents got us from an orphanage in Japan. None of us are biologically related."

"I see," Sango mumbled, eyes dropping to her plate. She continued to eat in silence, feeling much too embarrassed to speak. Without much grace, she'd just crossed a line that Miroku obviously hadn't intended on crossing since he'd never brought it up. Why did she have to get so flustered around him?

"Anyway, I'm glad to see you're keep the geraniums," Miroku said, breaking the awkward silence. Sango looked back up to see him smiling at the flowers in the vase that sat between them. "You know, I was starting to think your not saying anything was a sign that you were refusing my offer."

Sango's face twisted into confusion as Miroku softly laughed at himself. "Huh? Your offer? What offer?"

Miroku's face fell as he glanced over the flowers into Sango's eyes. He blinked twice before his expression changed to match Sango's. "The geraniums...don't you know what they mean?"

"Uh…" Sango's eyebrows pulled together, "No?"

That seemed to be the wrong thing to say, since Miroku's eyes widened slightly in shock. "Well, that's what I get for assuming all florists know the symbolic meaning behind the flowers they sell."

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?" Sango said sharply. The tone of Miroku's voice made it sound like he was mocking her.

"It means that I'm going to have to start tutoring you. If you're going to work at a flower shop, especially for Mr. Takahashi's flower shop, you'd better learn what you're selling. We'll start with geraniums. These flowers symbolize friendship. I kept giving them to you because I was trying to hint that I wanted to be your friend."

Sango could only offer a dumb "oh" in response. How was she supposed to know what flowers meant? It's not like she wanted to be a florist, she'd only gotten this job because it was close and she needed some income!

"Hey," Sango said suddenly, a thought coming to her. "How do you know so much about flowers?"

At the question, Miroku became sheepish. He scratched the back of his head as he answered, a weary smile on his lips. "Well...girls like getting flowers so…"

Sango's face dropped. "Of course."

* * *

 **AN: Sorry for taking so long to update! And sorry for any typos. I'm still trying to find a beta :) Hope you enjoy!**


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